Small Success

"If you wish to succeed in life, make perseverance your bosom friend, experience your wise counselor, caution your elder brother, and hope your guardian genius." ~ Joseph Addison

     For those of you who haven't heard, Hatch Market wasn't a complete success, but it wasn't a total failure either. I only managed to sell a few pieces, but that's better than selling none at all. At least I made enough to cover the cost of the booth. Even if I didn't make much money, I did get my name out there a little, and I picked up two random job offers as well, so we'll see how things go. Thanks to everyone who came out to see me. I got to see some old friends, and I really enjoyed talking to everyone who came to my booth (except a couple of sourpusses who were not so subtle in their disapproval of my prices). I was given some very helpful tips and learned a lot about what customers like most. I was really surprised that the few men's pieces I had seemed to attract a lot of attention. Who knew? 

     So after the stress of Hatch Market, I spent several days burying myself in the post-apocalyptic world of Fallout: New Vegas. Good game, though it seems a little more vulgar than Fallout 3. I guess it's just because it's in Vegas. I don't really mind it, but every now and then they shock me and it takes me a minute to go, "Wow... they actually said that." Anyway, it's been a good way to take my mind off of work and the disappointment of not making a good profit. 

     Right now I'm trying to focus on Halloween, and after that I'll be working on Berry College's Arts and Crafts Festival. Today I went to seven different stores so I could get the finishing touches for my Halloween costume. I'm doing this whole Victorianesque vampire thing, so I have a top hat that I'm decking out in burgundy roses and tulle, then I have a burgundy velvet and black lace coat that has black ribbon corset lacing in the back. Yay for pretty things. I also picked up some high-end vampire fangs, and I have to figure out how to fit them to my teeth tomorrow. Fun. So tomorrow night, I'll be going to a party in Atlanta with two of my friends. Hopefully we'll have a good time.

     Anyway, that's all for now. I'm sure you can expect a long rant about jewelry prices sometime in the near future, but luckily for you, I'm too tired to rant right now. Peace.

Cruel Cruel Fate

"The happy accident comes about once a year. The rest are unhappy accidents." ~ Alexander Creswell

     Crunch time preparing for Hatch Market and guess who throws her back out? My timing is impeccable. So now I'm lying flat on my back on the floor instead of working. Luckily for me, my parents have been doing a tremendous amount of work for me, and they spent yesterday and today helping me build three display boards for all of my jewelry. My mother also went out and bought Halloween decorations for my tent, so I'm going to have a pretty awesome display tomorrow. Hopefully between an adjustment at the chiropractor, a bottle of Aleve, and a backbrace, I'll make it through tomorrow's set up and the long day at the market. I just hope it's all worth it and we get a decent crowd. Again, I'll be out there on Solomon Street from noon to seven. Come by and check out all the artists and crafters.

Coming Soon to a Website Near You!

     Photographed 48 pieces of jewelry yesterday thanks to my wonderful photographer (aka dad). Gotta love having talented family members. Keep an eye out for a lot of new additions to the jewelry section of Anorel Arts in the next few days. While I'm sorting, editing, naming, and coding, here's a few tidbits to hold you over:

Slow and Steady

"It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop." ~ Confucius

     Typing that gave me the sudden craving for Chinese food. Hrm. Oh well. Anyway, I've been feeling rather sluggish lately, hence the lack of posts. I sleep far more than I should and still feel tired. Guess I need to start eating more often and get my metabolism to wake up and get going. Still, I've been pushing myself to work every day, mostly in the middle of the night when everyone else is sleeping. I currently have 90 pieces of jewelry in stock, and I have several other things in the works, so I should be well stocked for the upcoming art festivals. Today I purchased some necklace displays, though I couldn't really afford to buy more than fifteen of them so I have to make some different displays myself. I already own a t-bar display stand for bracelets, so now I just need to rig a few multi-purpose display stands for the earrings and the remainder of the necklaces. Again, please come out to Solomon Street in Griffin, GA on October 23 and help support the artists and crafters of Hatch Market. As part of Doctober Days, there will be plenty of vendors and entertainment in Griffin that weekend, so there's bound to be something for everyone to enjoy.

     Ok, so here's my disappointing story of the week. I brought back a wristlet of orchids from Hawaii, intending to dry them, crush them, and mix them with translucent clay to create beads that would not only hold the color of the orchids but would also have an interesting texture. So, I put my orchids in a tupperware container when I got back from Hawaii and poured in some silica gel crystals to absorb the moisture. Now, I got this advice from several columns on the internet, but apparently I didn't add enough silica gel. The internet said to leave the flowers in the container for a week or so, and so I did. Yesterday I finally opened the container to find a gooey, stinking mess of decaying flowers covered in stringy white mold. Yay me. And I'm allergic to mold. Extra yay for that. So I quickly shut the container and ran. Now I have the tupperware of death sitting on my desk. Guess I'll have to deal with that... Maybe I'll just toss the whole thing out. I don't really feel like bleaching out some plastic container so it won't make my skin get all red and puffy. But anyway, I'm disappointed. I was looking forward to experimenting with those pretty orchids. So, no orchid beads will be appearing in my work any time in the near future. Sadness.

     Anyway, running low on beads and clay, but I'm trying desperately not to spend anymore money on this business until I actually make some money back. If I sell half of the jewelry I have in stock right now, I'll almost have enough money to cover my expenses. It's a little disheartening. I really really need to get art prints made. I get the feeling that's where I'd make the most money, aside from commissioned portraits at least. Still, I could be entirely wrong about that, and with my parents constantly and not-so-subtly hinting that I'm going to crash and burn if I try to make a living off my little art business, I'm starting to get rather negative and upset with the whole thing. I've been keeping an eye out for a side job ever since I graduated from college, but it's difficult to find jobs in a field I'm qualified for, especially jobs in the area where I live. As I've said before, rural Georgia doesn't have many opportunities for people with art degrees. Anyway, I guess I'll just have to do the best I can and see what happens with these two craft festivals coming up. Still keeping an eye out for more fairs that don't cost an arm and a leg to get into, so if anyone knows of any upcoming events where vendors are needed, please let me know at anorelarts@gmail.com.

Fleeting Motivation

"Cutting out the clutter in your mind is as simple as letting it out, and that means expressing some pretty useless ideas." ~ Jean-Pierre Beeks

     Immediately after I ranted about being stuck in a rut, unable to make anything worthwhile, I made two necklaces. Go figure. Life likes to turn me into a liar. Oh well, at least I got something done. I've been a bit more inspired/motivated since then, so I've been updating my records, getting ready to start work on three portraits, and doing some research for my Down the Rabbit Hole collection. I've also started to add descriptions to the jewelry pages on my website. It's a slow-going process, but I'm working on it.

     It's October! And I still have no plans for Halloween! I'm starting to freak out a little here. I have no costume, no party, no one to hang out with, nothing. I can't do nothing for Halloween. It's like... blasphemy or heresy or something. Help me! I need someone to point me toward some non-scary but incredibly awesome thing to do for Halloween!

     Bah. In other news, I'll be going to the Cotton Pickin' Fair in Gay tomorrow. All you Georgia people, go there! Support the arts! And the crafts! I won't be selling anything there, but maybe I'll find some good buys. I just have to make sure I don't spend too much. I have no money coming in at the moment, so I can't really be spending much. Oh the joys of money. Someone needs to buy stuff from me. Now.